BuNo 92436

Current Civil Registration Number C-GVWC

BuNo 92436 was shipped out for war during August 1945, but made it only so far as NAS Pearl Harbor, Hawaii before hostilities ended. It returned to the US mainland where it was assigned to VMF-213 “Hellhawks” squadron, and later a litany various Naval Air Reserve squadrons across the country before being retired in 1957.

The following year, Ed Maloney purchased the Corsair from Navy surplus and relocated it to his ‘Air Museum’ facility along Route 66 in Claremont, CA for outdoor display. Later in 1963, Maloney relocated his collection to the Ontario International Airport in Ontario, CA and then again to Cal-Aero Field in Chino, CA during 1973. It was at this time that the museum began operating under the new name ‘Air Museum - Planes of Fame’

In October of that year, the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Mount Hope, Ontario, Canada purchased BuNo 92436 from Maloney’s collection and refurbished it back to flying condition wearing the unique colors of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm F4U-1D piloted by famed fighter pilot Robert Hampton “Hammy” Gray. For the next twenty-four years it served as a regular participant at air shows across North America.

In 1998 the CWH Museum was pressed to part with BuNo 92436 and it was soon taken on by Brian Reynolds and his Olympic Aviation Museum in Olympia, WA. His crew flew the newly acquired Corsair for a short period of time before making the decision to deliver it to John Lane’s “Airpower Unlimited” in Jerome, ID for a comprehensive rebuild. It remains there today, undergoing what is understood to be one of the most ambitious Corsair restorations seen to date.